The Radiant Chronicle: The Freedom of Ailily
by Al Azif
Summary: The world is threatened with destruction from the evil of the Devourer. In the time of darkness a hero will rise to challenge the power and find her destiny. Join Laena, Descender of Terresia and her companion Mormo as they make their legacy on the world
1. Prologue

_**Well as they say "3rd times the charm" and after 2 (Yes 2) disastrous stories that failed epically I decided to review where I went wrong and read other fanfics like MAD. I spent all this time reading from the minds of Artful Lounger (THE BEST AUTHOR EVAHHH. READ HIS STORIES, ESPECIALLY KAGE NO NARUTO) Freedom Guard (Best and Hottest Lemons alive) and Inazuka pau (love the Toradora fic about Ryuuji being a badass) and revamped my style of writing. Hope its up to standards.**_

_**AFTER READING PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT**_

_**BUT NO FLAMES, READ MY NOTE ON THE BOTTOM ON WHY FLAMES SHOULD NOT BE POSTED**_

_**NOTE: This story will follow the game with a few edits to the original story to accommodate my OC but I will be faithful and include the ever famous "Quests" of the game except this time the story is weaved through making it at least interesting instead of randomly beating the crap out of monsters for GRADE**_

_**NOW ON WITH THE SHOW!!!!!**_

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_"Wake up..."_

_"Your world, Terresia, is dying..."_

_"Wake up!..."_

_"Wake up...please..."_

_"Your world needs you!"_

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Slowly but surely the girl opened her eyes revealing their brilliant emerald color. Shakily, she began her first movements since her "birth", flexing her arms and moving her fingers as her life force began beating anew. Almost immediately she stumbled out of the cocoon of flower petals and landed on her knees, managing to throw her arms forward to stop her face from hitting the soft mossy floor, small thread-like substances still clinging to her like a newborn butterfly. She opened her mouth and gasped for air as her lungs began functioning and after a few seconds of heavy breathes, her heart's beat became rhythmic and smooth. Still, like the newborn she is, she began standing upright, letting her mind take in the surrounding area. Her brain which was fully matured began processing the new information. She was in a medium sized cavern, moss, roots and overgrown plants crawled around the walls, floors and even the ceiling. Looking back she stared at the great big flower which bore her, by which means mystified her. Taking a few steps forward, a small gust of wind blew through and caressed her soft pink skin. Involuntarily she shuddered and realized she was bare of any clothes. Looking around she saw a rag-like cloak in the mess of petals and immediately threw it upon herself without even wondering how it got there.

"So you've finally answered my call"

Startled, she turned around so fast and wound up a heap on the leaves on the floor. Standing back up and pulling back the cloak which had fallen over her, she looked around for the source of the voice.

"I'm down here" it called out

Looking down, her gaze was met with the weirdest looking creature in her life. It sat there eyeing her with great interest, with its round head and cat shaped eyes and ears. Its head was a bit bigger than its body and its had 4 spindly legs that didn't even look like they could support the creature. Then what surprised her even more was when the thing suddenly stood up and _flew _towards her.

"_So she is this world first Descender. All in all not a bad figure. Golden hair, a perfect body, not too muscled but not too thin either"_

"Here" the little creature said, flying behind a few roots and pulling out (albeit with some difficulty) a pair of ragged sandals and bringing it to her. "We can't have you tripping around these parts, with monsters here and there. But since you are a descender, the denizens of the world tree will not attack you unless enraged or provoked"

He then turned around and began flying towards the entrance of the cavern, his two little wings on his _tail_ flapping around quickly.

"Wa- Wait. Please" She called out, her sweet angelic voice cutting through the silence. "Who are you?"

The creature immediately stopped in mid-flight and looked at the girl with an expression of surprise. But realization hit him harder and he chuckled a bit at his forgetfulness.

_"Of course, she's still a 'Newborn', she doesn't know anything of this worlds danger yet." _the little creature thought

"My name is Mormo" he introduced "I'm the one who called out to you when you finally woke up. Just like you I'm a Descender, but from another world"

"Another world!?" the girl asked, surprised at the new info

"Yeah, but enough about me wha-"

Before he could continue any further a high pitched scream sailed down the open entrance and abruptly stopped them.

"Damn, it sound like somebody is already in trouble and you aren't even 15 minutes old! Quick, follow me and let's check out what's what" with that both of them quickly made their way out of the cavern and towards the trouble ahead

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"No, please! Let go of me!" came a voice, obviously female

"Heh, No way! this is the way we treat spies! I'm going to have some fun with you before I kill you and leave your corpse to the beasts!" came a second voice, this time male

"NO, DON'T PLEASE!!!!!" came the first voice

In a shadows of the roots on the ceiling, Mormo quickly assessed what was going on. A young girl around 16 was sprawled on the floor, her pink hair disheveled and her clothes ripped here and there. A man wearing armor stood over her as she cried out, obviously wallowing in her despair. Making sure he wasn't seen he flew towards one of the many opening of the room where he had told the newborn descender to wait and hide.

"Okay, we need to the help that girl before that bastard does any more damage to her integrity" he whispered.

The Girl stared at Mormo with a look of shock and quickly replied "But he has an axe! And I don't even know how to fight!"

"Don't worry about that" Mormo said, looking around for a solution, his eyes spying a glint of silver behind the girl "Hey what's that?" he wondered out loud, flying closer to the object.

Tangled in the undergrowth was and old rusty looking dagger. Mormo quickly pointed it out and the girl pulled it out with some difficulty. Holding it in her hand, she suddenly began twirling the dagger around her fingers with such precision that she didn't even cut herself. She stood up and began slicing the air with a few quick swipes and jabs combining it with some fancy hand work and twists and looking like a ballet of blades and death. When she brought the blade down to her side. All the leaves on the branches suddenly fell down and split in half. Taking a breather she looked at her handiwork and the knife she held in her hand.

"How did I-"

"No time" Mormo suddenly cut through "That guy is about to kill her! Quick get out there now!"

Without wasting a moments thought, she jumped out of her hiding place and saw the man about to bring the axe down on the helpless girl. Suddenly all her instincts kicked into overdrive and it seemed like time slowed down as the man brought down the axe. She ran at him so fast and without thinking straight rammed him. From Mormo's view he had just been looking at the newest Descender a second ago and in the blink of an eye she had closed the gap and sent the armored thug into the wall.

_"She's fast!" _Mormo thought _"and she did THAT out of pure instinct!? If she trained herself she'd actually be a really deadly fighter!"_

The pink haired girl stood up shakily and walked to her saviour. As she neared she tripped and was about to fall down again but was caught by the mysterious blonde who just came out of nowhere and sent her aggressor right through a wall.

"Are you okay?" The blonde asked

The pink haired girl looked stunned at first but after standing up she quickly replied "I'm fine, Thank you very much for saving me from him ummm, Ms-?"

The blonde suddenly paused and looked quite confused "Uh, ummm I-I...."

Suddenly her head's gears clicked together and her name flew straight to her mouth "Laena. My name is Laena"

"Thank you Laena-san" the girl replied, bowing slightly "My name is Kanono Earheart"(Tell me if I misspelled)

"At least I finally have something to call you by" came Mormo's voice as he flew casually towards them, another rag-cloak with him. Instantly Kanono screamed "Monster!" In surprise but calmed down immediately after Laena grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her out of her shock. After her little episode Laena took the ragged cloak from Mormo and tossed it to Kanono.

"You better cover yourself, your clothes are pretty badly damaged" She stated. Looking at herself Kanono just realized that her clothes were torn here and there exposing ample skin where bruise marks and small cuts could be seen. In her embarrassment she quickly threw the cloth around her and bowed her head to hide the bright red tomato blush that adorned her face. Laena saw this and laughed a bit

"Don't be embarrassed! We are both girls you know" she said quickly, giving a smile that almost made Kanono melt.

"Well now that that's over" Mormo began "We need to get out of here before-"

CRASH!

"-that oaf gets out"

The thug busted out of the ruble, his armor having taken the most of the damage. Staring around he saw the blonde girl who dared interrupt his fun and picked up his axe.

"YOU LITTLE BITCH!!" he screamed running at them and, once he closed the gap fairly quickly, which caught them off guard and took a swing at both of them.

Laena, whose senses were still heightened quickly pushed Mormo and Kanono backwards and raised her knife in defense and the axe collided on its rusty surface. A cracking sound rang out and the knife broke under the strain. Instinctively she bent her head back to avoid the blade that would hit her but she wasn't able to react quickly enough and the axes' tip nicked her left eye.

"AHHH!!!!!!!" She screamed in pain clutching her face as blood began flowing out. When her hand felt the warm liquid she knew half her sight was no more.

"LAENA!!!" Kanono yelled out, shocked at the sudden turn of event. Even Mormo cursed under his breath at being to slow to realize that they weren't out of the woods yet.

"Ha! You like that bitch!?" The thug called out, pointing his axe tauntingly. "Now that I've rendered you weaponless I'm going to kill you and then finish what I started!"

As the thug laughed at his opponents weakness, little did he know that his little move started a chain reaction inside Laena's own body. As anger welled up inside her, energy began coursing through her blood stream. Inside a blue flame erupted and surrounded her heart and began fueling her body with a newer energy. Once again moving by instinct, Laena raised her free hand and cocked her arm backwards.

"Oh, is the little bitch still going to fight?" The thug said in a sing-song voice "Well prepare to die!"

With that, he ran again towards Laena, not noticing the blue aura surrounding her free hand. Without thinking again Laena swung her arm and the as the blue energy formed a small sized bomb, complete with the signature skull and crossbones, and let it fly towards the thug.

**"BOMB THROW!!!" **

The thug didn't even have time to think as the black ball of death collided with him and exploded with enough force to send him smashing back onto the wall.

_"Did that finish him off?" _Laena thought, gasping in pain as her eye continued to bleed _"No, it hit his armor and just blew him away and I don't even know what I just did a second ago!" _

"Heh, I'll admit that that caught me by surprise back there" the thug said standing up, his helmet blown off revealing a very ugly muscled face "But I won't fall for that again!" he called out raising his axe.

Just as he raised his axe, an arrow flew out of nowhere and pierced him right between the eyes. In that micro second, as the cold steel touched his skin, he knew he was dead but it wasn't over as a bolt of lightning descended out of nowhere and hit his head causing it to explode like a watermelon. As flesh and brain matter scattered, Kanono gave the highest pitched scream she could muster and Laena immediately turned around to look for the source of the attack.

A blue haired youth stood in front of the corridor behind them, tucking his bow behind him and running up to them.

"Kanono!" he called out grasping her and looking at her with concern "Are you hurt? Did that guy do anything horrible to you?"

"Please Chester, I'm fine" Kanono said breaking free of Chester's grasp "But Laena here saved me, right Laena?"

"Laena?"

She turned around and found Laena on the ground passed out from some blood loss while Mormo was using some cloth he ripped from her cloak and frantically using it to try and stop the bleeding

"KANONO HELP!!" Mormo cried out

"LAENA!!!"

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_"Is she alright?" _

_"I've managed to heal her wounds but her eye is beyond my power"_

_"So she'll be like this permanently"_

_"I'm afraid so" _

_"Oh, Laena, I'm so sorry"_

_"Is that Kanono?"_ Laena thought, her thoughts finally stirring from slumber _"Where am I? Sure doesn't feel like the world tree"_

As her hand began moving, she felt the linen sheets under her and summarized that she was on a bed. Where though was completely out of the question since her body seemed to refuse to wake up completely

_"Hey she's waking up!" _

_"Wait" _Laena suddenly thought _"That definitely isn't Kanono" _

_"Call Kratos! Maybe he can help Raine now!"_

_"Neither is that Kanono" _Laena thought, her body beginning to move to her commands. As she opened her eyes, her vision blurred as her eye, the remaining one, took in the light of the surroundings.

_"Wait! Why can't I open my other eye!?" _Laena suddenly thought, completely forgetting the events that had just happened. As she turned her head, her blurry vision saw a silhouette tower over her menacingly. Her eyes were still adjusting but she could make out a sword at his side.

Then _it _happened.

All the memories of the fight, the thug, the axe, Mormo, Kanono, that blue haired guy, and her losing her eye and fainting on the spot. All of it came back to her. Her battle senses suddenly kicking in again she immediately threw her hand forward for the sword and, in the blink of an eye, unsheathed it from the mysterious man and jumped up out of bed, distancing her legs as she landed and throwing the sword into her hand into a backhand defensive grasp across her.

"STAY BACK!" she yelled as her eyes finally adjusted and focused themselves.

"Laena! Please wait, we're not going to hurt you!" came a familiar voice. Looking quickly but not letting down her stance she assessed where she was and saw that she was in a medium sized bedroom made out of wood. Here and there roots stemmed out from small cracks and, judging by the flowering greenery, came to a conclusion that wherever she was was near the world tree. There were 3 people in the room, Kanono, A gruff looking male with brown hair who she assumed was Kratos who looked somewhere in his 30's and whose sword she just hijacked and a white haired woman with a bright orange dress with a staff in hand. She immediately loosened up when she sensed no danger from the two others.

"Sorry" she said as she tossed the sword back to its owner, who just grunted in reply and sheathed the long steel blade and turned around, not before she noticed a slight red blush across his face

"Is something wrong?"

"Ummm, Laena" Kanono began, her face also bright red "You see-"

Suddenly the door banged open and three more people suddenly burst in

"We heard something fall and crash!" said the first, a red haired boy with another sword and weirdly shaped gauntlets who was followed by the blue haired man with a ponytail and a white haired kid holding some kind of toy. When the three of them looked at Laena, each one turned red and the kid actually fainted, the two others were left with their mouths wide open.

"What's wrong with you people?" She asked again, annoyed at everyone's reaction towards her as she placed her hand on her hip in exasperation. Wait. Her hip? Looking back at the bed she noticed a white blanket on it and looking at a mirror in the room near the dresser, she saw herself stark naked in all her glory. Her eyes suddenly snapped to the men in the room as she suddenly teared up and glared at them.

The red head suddenly sensing danger from the blonde started to edge away but not in time "Wait, we didn't strip you!"

Wrong choice of words

"YOU DIRTY PERVERTS!!!!!!!!!!!"

SLAP

Yes. Not even Kratos was spared the fate.

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_**So what do you guys think? A bit too fast for you maybe? PM me if you have any questions and don't forget to leave a comment AND NO FLAMES, FLAMES WILL BE DOUSED WITH WATER AND THROWN INTO THE DEVOURER'S MOUTH FOR LORD WIDDERSHIN. ALL HAIL LORD WIDDLES!!!!!!**_

_**Oh and poll on who Laena is going to be partnered with (Romantically, duh) **_

_**Kratos ("More than" student-mentor style relation)**_

_**Reid (I don't know how she will cope with him)**_

_**Genis (You sick pedophilic bastard)**_

_**Lloyd (FORGIVE ME COLLETE)**_

_**Stahn (Rise from your grave!) **_

_**Leon (Chocolate!!!!)**_

_**Gar (*All the girls swoon and fall)**_

_**Eugene (oh god you sick monster!)**_

_**AND OF COURSE**_

_**KANONO (PLEASE PICK PLEASE PICK PLEASE PICK) (I love a good lesbi fanfic)**_

_**Unless someone wants to actually add Mormo to the roster (*regurgitates lunch)**_

_**Well Hope you enjoyed reading! If I'm in a good mood, I'll include a little bonus omake in the next update.**_

_**-aurion123**_


	2. New Days

_**Well finally thanks for the positive reviews guys! You don't know how happy I am right now so keep on reviewing! **_

_**Disclaimer: you think I would bother with that shit? **_

_**NOW ON WITH THE SHOW!!!!!!!!!**_

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Light streamed through a window, bathing the occupant of the nearby bed in its ethereal glow. Grudgingly the blonde just flipped to her side and made a futile attempt to sleep. After a few minutes of lying down she opened her eye and pouted. Laena enjoyed sleeping very much but hated the fact that she was quite sensitive to light and that a candle was enough to wake her up in the middle of the night. She summarized this phenomenon as her being a child of the World Tree, a Descender. In the weeks past Mormo told her that it would be best to hide her origin for now because there had been no such past records of Descenders on Terresia, the planet their World Tree gave birth to. In annoyance, she threw the sheet of the bed and got up, yawning and stretching as she prepared for the day ahead of her. As she walked towards the dresser of her room, she passed by a mirror and remembered the 'incident' that happened 2 days ago.

_"Damn it" _she thought, rubbing her forehead in annoyance _"Maybe I shouldn't have slapped Kratos that hard" _

***FLASHBACK***

The 4 men (well 1 boy and 3 men) waited patiently outside the room, rubbing the part of their faces where a distinctive red palm made its mark. After a few seconds of painful waiting, the door to the room opened and out stepped Kanono with her usual cheerful demeanor and Raine with her hands cupped to her chest as if measuring something with a look of disbelief etched on her face. Before the guys could ask what happened, the answer stepped right out.

"Kanono" called Laena, stepping out right after Raine "Is this really all you have to spare?"

If it weren't for the painful memory of before the three guys (excluding Kratos) would have had another episode in front of her. Laena stood there in what seemed to be the basic leather training gear, complete with a small steel knife in a special holster strapped to her thigh. What would have caused the episode was the fact that the garb seemed to be more of Kanono's size so it was kind of small for her. The leather dress hugged her figure quite tightly, bringing to light her "assets" and her shapely curves, which at least explained Raine's expression. The shorts didn't help either because instead they looked like bicycle shorts, hugging her legs and increasing her drop dead gorgeousness. Her blonde hair was now combed back and she let her bangs drop a bit on her left eye but not enough to conceal the makeshift leather eyepatch she had.

"I'm sorry Laena" Kanono began "but this is all I could spare from my closet, and mind you, I don't have that many clothes"

Laena just sighed in defeat, not even realizing the effect she could have on the entire male population of Ailily (She is just a newborn, she doesn't get that yet) and looked at the others who just looked like they had a hammer upside their head.

"What are you three looking at?" she asked honestly. At this Raine immediately pulled a book out of nowhere and whacked the back of Genis' head.

"OW!!" cried Genis, rubbing the place where the book had hit "What was that for sis!?"

"Don't you dare look like that towards a woman!" scolded Raine "I raised you better than that you know"

"Yes sis" Genis sighed in defeat.

"Anyways" continued Laena, all attention going back to her "Kanono and Raine managed to fill me in on who you guys are and what Ad Libitum does (I won't bother explaining, I assume whoever reads this has played the game at least a bit) so I wa-"

"No"

Everyone in the corridor turned towards Kratos who had a stoic expression on his face

"What!?" Laena cried out "But you're going to ne-"

"We don't need the help of someone who will just be a burden to us" Kratos said "You have no combat expierience and furthermore we don't even know where you came from, for I care you might be a spy Ganser sent to take us out from the inside"

Kanono and Laena were absolutely shocked at what Kratos just said but before Laena could retort, Kanono spoke

"But she saved me from Ganser's own!" she said indignantly "There's no way she could be one of them! She even lost half her sight for me!"

"Be that the case" Kratos began, trying to be fair "At least we have to know where she came from to put the other members at ease in case they think the same as me"

Everyone turned towards Laena, expecting her to answer but before she could open her mouth again, Mormo flew up beside her. All the others who were unaware of Mormo immediately gripped there weapons but tensed down when Kanono went up and held Mormo in her arms.

"Allow me to explain a bit on Laena" Mormo began and Reid immediately yelled and fell back in surprise

"That monster actually talks!?!?" he cried out, pulling himself back up

"I'M NOT A MONSTER!!!" Mormo yelled "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT!!"

"Sorry Mormo" Laena said, walking up to Kanono and scratching behind Mormo's ears "I forgot to mention you"

"I understand" Mormo replied "Considering the situation, It would be your safety first before me"

Laena scratched some more before turning back towards them but Mormo tugged her shirt and beckoned her back while whispering words "Let me, it would be best to keep you birth a secret for now"

Nodding in understanding, she stepped back and Kanono released Mormo letting him fly to the center.

"Laena lives in the World Tree" stated Mormo, garnering mixed expressions from the crowd, even Kanono

"Thats impossible" Raine started "The World Tree is infested with monsters, no one could survive there let alone live there"

"But it's true" Mormo continued, Laena nodding at the statement going along with Mormo's story "Laena grew up there fighting monsters and surviving with my help. I found her running from some wild Mandragora when she was a kid and judging by the rags that she wore she had just been abandoned to die there. Luckily I could communicate with the monsters and told them to leave her in my care. She was no older that 3 at that time so I had to keep her with me and teach her how to survive on her own"

"Amazing" Reid muttered "You've lived alone for 13 years fighting to survive, thats a miracle"

Kratos on the other hand just stared suspiciously at Laena, he could tell that they were hiding something but also sensed that they meant no harm to the town.

"Fine" Kratos muttered, everyone looking at him in surprise as he scratched the back of his head (Think Shikamaru style) "I suppose we can allow her a trial period and in the end I'll give her a test to see if she has what it takes to be a true member of Ad Libitum"

Immediately Kanono and Laena squealed and hugged each other in joy. Kratos just chuckled at their action while the others gathered around and congratulated Laena on "swaying the unswayable"

He then looked outside the nearest window and his face went back to its usual seriousness as he thought of only one thing

_"Wherever you are, I hope you are safe"_

***FLASHBACK END***

She honestly thought that Kratos wouldn't let her join in, but hey, thats luck for you. As she finished changing into her leather garments she knocked on one of the bigger drawers and opened it to find a sleeping Mormo on a pillow given to him by Kanono. Seeing that he was still asleep, Laena decided to leave a note telling him to ask Raine for food in case she was gone already and proceeded to leave. She entered the hallway and descended a flight of stairs at the end, arriving at the main room of the inn. She greeted the innkeeper and just asked for an omelette with ketchup. When Kanono introduced her yesterday to their food (Since her stomach growled so loud seeing that it hasn't eaten since birth) she was instantly hooked on eating a wide variety of their dishes to explore the newfound flavors that graced her mouth. After eating she looked at the clock and found that it was almost 8:30 so she immediately returned her cleaned plates with a "thank you" and proceeded to the plaza to meet with Kanono.

After reaching her destination, she sat down at the side of the fountain and checked the nearby clock tower. It read exactly 8:30 but Kanono was nowhere to be seen so Laena just laid down on the cold concrete, letting her left hand submerge in the cool water and relaxing her. But then her peace was interrupted when 2 armored thugs like the one she fought 2 days ago walked past her, dragging a middle aged civilian man by his arms who was beaten and bruised all over. Tensing up she placed her hand on her blade but another man entered the scene. He looked like a portly old man, short in stature but his oddly enormous hat with its twin peacock head design and one way glasses made him look quite intimidating. In his hand she noticed that he had a cane, albeit quite flimsy, with the top shaped like a monster's head with a open mouth, revealing its rows of sharp teeth. Right then she holstered her blade knowing that he wasn't some person to mess with. Along with her talent in knives she was also given quite the analytical mind and right now it was telling her to lay back and observe the situation so as not to draw attention to herself. With that she just resumed her relaxation as she stared up into the sky, watching the clouds drift by quite lazily, but making sure she caught every word of the conversation the man was having with the civilian.

"Please Lord Ganser" the man cried out "I'm telling the truth! I just went out to gather some herbs for my sick daughter!"

"Bah!" the man replied, slapping the guy's face with his can "You can't lie to me! You were giving information to your employer you little spy! Now tell me who you work for!"

Laena bit her lower lip in anger _"This guy is nuts, who the hell does he think he is!?" _

"But I swear I'm not a spy! I'm just trying like everyone else to get by!" the man panted

"Again, lies!" Ganser yelled "You're a spy and I know it! You couldn't even provide your quota last month and I know your hiding the rest for yourself!"

"That's mad!" the man yelled indignantly "I gave you everything I had in my possession!"

"You seriously think that I would believe that!" Ganser said "Lets see how you like being food for the Devourer! Take him away and banish him from this village!"

"Yes sir!" the thugs replied as they dragged the man along, ignoring his cries of terror and protest

Unfortunately it seemed that Ganser's wasn't through with the town yet. He turned and walked by Laena who acted like she had heard nothing and smiled lustfully at her as he walked by

_"So you are the world's saviour" _another voice whispered

Immediately she jumped up and looked for Ganser but the man had mysteriously disappeared

"What the heck was that about?'

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"I'm so sorry!" cried Kanono as she rushed towards the fountain, easily spotting her friend's golden hair. She ran up to her panting heavily and took a quick look at the clock which read 9:00

"I was finishing up an errand Kratos asked me to do but it took longer than expected"

Laena just smiled and stood up "Nah" she said quickly "Don't worry, I managed to rest a bit and see Ganser with my own eyes"

At this she immediately turned serious and pulled Laena in close, close to feel her breath in her ear

"Are you sure it was Ganser?" she said quietly, her face that of controlled anger

"Yeah, the unlucky 'spy' of today called him by name" Laena replied, a more expressionless look on her face

"So he exiled another one today did he?" she asked

"Yep"

She swore "Looks like we're going to have to open up more camps"

"Camps?"

"Yeah" she replied "Ad Libitum provides shelter for the 'exiled' ones and gives them protection against Ganser's wrath but most of our camps are small and scattered to keep us under the radar but all of them are full"

"Too risky to open more, huh?"

"Right"

Kanono stepped back and looked Laena in the eye

"We need to inform Kratos of the situation"

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The members, or at least all those who weren't out on a mission, were all gathered at the guild hall and had just been informed of the recent developments

"I see" Kratos muttered, pacing about a big map of the city and the surrounding area. Big tacks with red flags were scattered about, marking the refugee camps.

"We're already at risk here" Kratos said, turning to face the guild "We already run the risk of being discovered and one of Ganser's patrols almost found a camp. Luckily Chester was on scene and forewarned everyone in the camp to pack and move"

"Looks like we'll be having problems for a while, huh?" Reid said, ruffling his hair in frustration "Where the hell is Lloyd!?"

"Who's Lloyd?" Laena asked "He was mentioned once or twice before but I haven't yet seen him"

"For now he has a mission, you can't know more than that" Kratos said before Reid could answer "I suggest you start training for your first mission, once you are ready, Raine will give you some beginners quests and you will work your way from there"

Laena nodded in understanding and made her way to leave the meeting, seeing as she couldn't do more, and left along with Kanono following suit.

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After stocking up on Apple Gels and other supplies, Laena and Kanono met up with Mormo and left towards the Foot of the World Tree, a basic training ground for the members of Ad Libitum. As they walked Mormo revealed some of his powers which were helpful in their own special way. Firstly, he could actually teleport them back to the city anytime they wanted after training but not the other way around. Apparently he could only do so since the city is protected by magic which repels most monsters from the area, making it a kind of 'magical marker' so to speak, and since the other areas had no such defense, teleporting was impossible to pinpoint, lest they warp into a horde of monsters or inside a rock. Also he had a sort of radar ability, one that allowed him to map out the surrounding area in a matter if minutes, useful for finding hidden treasure or locating people stranded in a dungeon.

After about an hour or so of walking the group finally managed to make it to a big heavy door, the entrance to the Foot of the World Tree. Mormo took this time to fly to the bag he asked Kanono to bring for him and pulled out a book.

"This should help in your training" He said, handing the book to Laena "This book contains info on how to fully harness your energy and convert it into special attacks for your 'class' called 'Artes'. Kratos suggested it to me to help with your training"

"Artes?" Laena asked, confusion written over her face "You mean like the move I used on that thug when I saved Kanono?"

"Yeah" Kanono replied "That was an Arte, energy compressed and released in a form of an attack move that is unique to the said person's 'class'. The weird thing is, your class hasn't been seen for quite a while already"

"By the way?" Laena began "What is my class?"

"Thief" Kanono replied, taking the book and opening it to the page she needed "A class that favors quick attacks and speed. Their knife wielding knowledge can go to a point where they can strike a entire 20+ combo in a matter of seconds"

"Wow" Laena replied taking the book and scanning over a few pages quickly "This is really my style!"

"Kratos thought so as well" Mormo said "You practice inside but don't go to deep, me and Kanono will go around looking for herbs and whatnot to bring back as supplies for Ad Libitum. We'll meet back here at noon, when the sun is at its peak"

With that the 3 departed and went their separate ways. As Laena entered the huge cavern, she looked around and made sense of her surroundings. There were 3 paths from the main cave, 1 that should proceed to the deeper parts and 2 that lead to some springs in case she needed to rest. Lucky she had scouted the area the day before or she'd wind up in the deeper parts against monsters beyond her current capabilities. Sitting down in the middle of the room, she took out the book and flipped to the page that contained the training for moves. Kanono had already lectured her on the inner energy theory and how to use it so she already mastered her first 2 moves, one attack move (**Bomb Throw) **and a non attack type (**Search Gald), **which helped her sense nearby discarded or dropped money, although it was only small amounts she found. When she finally found the page she was looking for she read the first new move she'd be practicing today.

***A/N: I'll be using the Japanese names for the moves I found on GameFaqs. Some moves have no Japanese translation so they are kept in english though said in Japanese (Think Romanji) **

_"Gatotsushou" _Laena thought, raising her knife and getting into her battle stance

_"Time to start getting serious" _

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_**There it is folks, chapter 1 is up and running and so far my reviews are going good meaning some good luck seems to finally be shining on me. **_

_**Anyways here is the current situation at the poll **_

_***Gah let me save myself the trouble**_

_**EVERYONE ELSE-0**_

_**Leon- 2 **_

_**As you see Leon seems to be taking the favorite spot to win the heart of our drop-dead gorgeous Descender BUT TAKE NOTE Since Leon is stationed in Doplund, the romance will not begin until the end of the Ailily arc! So vote wisely if you want some romance now or let Laena train up in this arc THEN have some fluff with our favorite snob!**_

_***Translation for moves**_

_**-Gatotsushou- FANG RUSH**_

_**AND NOW FOR THAT PROMISED OMAKE SINCE I AM IN A GOOD MOOD!!!!!!**_

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_Omake episode 1- Light Walking _

_*REMEMBER LAENA WAS BORN FROM A FLOWER, SO THINK _

_After the long trek_

Kanono was panting and sweating heavily. The long walk had really tired her out not to mention that, since there were no clouds, the sun was really beating down on them. When they arrived Kanono looked at Laena and found her to be in prime condition and she hadn't even broke a sweat

"How are you not tired!?" She panted

"Huh?" Laena replied looking back at her friend "I don't know, I actually feel really energetic right now, not an ounce of tiredness in me!" she said, holding up her hand in the 'victory' sign

Kanono just shook her head and dismissed it. Lately she had been noticing quite a few strange happenings with Laena such as; Drinking quite a lot, sleeping in her underwear on the roof when the Sun was out, and curling into one hard ball when she slept (She knew this because she heard sounds of pain and found Mormo being strangled by a sleeping Laena) and being perceptive of even the tiniest bit of light in the dark.

There was something strange going on here but she couldn't quite put her finger on it

END

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_**Actually I'm holding a small contest; Guess what I'm trying to insinuate with Laena here and I'll promise a good surprise for the first 3 people who get it. AND IT ISN'T SOMETHING LIKE COOKIE OR CAKE I REALLY MEAN A GOOD SURPRISE ONE INVOLVING THE STORY**_

_**Anyways, till next time**_

_**aurion123**_


	3. An Ally and a Guardian in Steel

_**Hey sorry for the late update but as you know, parents and exams mixed are a bitch! But don't you sweat on it, I'll keep this damn story going until the end**_

_**And without further ado let get this show on the road!!!!**_

_**wait**_

_**I almost forgot**_

_**Disclaimer: Hmmm, I own nothing except for the OC's..................thats good enough**_

_**NOW ON WITH THE SHOW(AGAIN)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**_

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Laena just lay there panting heavily. For the past 3 hours or so, she couldn't really tell, she had been training her but off. Thanks to the occasional monster coming to fight her, her training had progressed quite farther than she had expected. She only had expected to learn 1 new move and just spend the rest of the time perfecting it but instead she had 2 more moves listed in her arsenal now. Aside from Fang Rush, which focused a small blast of wind when she thrusts her knife, she now had access to Hawk Ascent, a nifty attack that focused energy to her blade when she swung it upward which would send her enemy helplessly into the air. She tried to push herself and attain Diving Dragon but focusing her energy and concentrating on an angled descent towards a moving target was proving to be quite troublesome so she decided to practice the other moves only. Deciding to finally halt her training before her bodies' limit gave out, she stood up, picked up her training manual and her almost empty bag, and went outside to meet up with Kanono and Mormo.

"Laena! what happened to you!?" Kanono cried out when Laena came out "You look like you went to the 2nd Level!"

Indeed, Laena was looking worse for wear. Here and there her dress was torn and she had a few cuts and bruises but nothing major.

"Ha ha" she replied, smiling and scratching her head absentmindedly "Well I did try to push myself a bit and try learning the Diving Dragon but my supplies ran out on me and my inner energy is already drained"

"Oh here let me heal those cuts, you might get infected" Kanono said, unwrapping a long cloth on her back that Laena just noticed. As the cloth fell, in its wake was a long Bastard Sword (Correct me if I'm mistaken but that's her weapon right?) that was still brand new.

"Where did you get that!?" Laena asked, a bit dumbfounded at her friends weapon "and you never mentioned you could fight! How the heck did you get captured by Ganser's thugs!?"

"Well..." she replied, blushing slightly in embarrassment "I had forgotten to have my sword tempered so when I fought the thug, my sword broke and I was rendered weaponless. Honestly that was the most embarrassing thing to happen to me yet"

"So what's your class?" Laena asked, sitting down on a nearby root as Kanono moved forward a bit

"I'm a Magic Knight, the same class as Kratos, but I'm still far from his level" Kanono replied, holding her sword up across her, one hand on the hilt while the other was planted firmly on the side of the blade. At that instant a magic glyph appeared below her and began rotating as Kanono closed her eyes and began focusing her magic through the sword, which acted as a medium for all Magic Knights. After a few seconds, Kanono's eyes snapped back open as she raised the sword above her head and called out **"FIRST AID!"**

Laena flinched a bit as white energy enveloped her and her wounds began sealing themselves. In a matter of seconds, all the bruises and cuts had disappeared from her body. The light disappeared and Kanono put her sword in a special sheath holster on her back (think Advent Children Cloud's holster)

"We'd better get going now" Kanono began "I just told Mormo to check for some last minute herbs so we'll wait for bit"

Surely enough, after just 5 minutes, Mormo came flying in with a small basket full of herbs and fruits and landed on the ground in front of them.

"Whew!" Mormo panted "That's a lot of weight for me! I think I should really join Reid's physical fitness program!"

"Well you better" Laena joked "That little body of yours has been getting fat from all the food you woof down at meals"

"HEY!!" Mormo cried out "It's not fat and I haven't been pigging out!"

"Reaaaally?" Laena said in a sing song voice, turning her head a way so Mormo wouldn't see her devious smile "Then what do you call it?"

"Uh" Mormo paused a bit while Kanono watched the pair while giggling slightly "Muscles?"

In that instant, Laena and Kanono fell on the ground laughing out loud at Mormo's statement.

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!!!!!" Mormo yelled

"Ha ha ha" Laena chuckled as she stood back up "Sorry, couldn't resist"

"We should get back now" Kanono said, standing up as well "We'll need to buy Laena some new clothes and weapons since I doubt you'll be using those again"

Looking at herself, Laena had to admit that Kanono was definitely right about what she said. Even her dagger was chipped from being overexposed to the energy of using techniques and hitting the wall and ground when the tech missed or failed.

"Yeeesh" she muttered when she smelled herself. She now smelt of sweat and mud with a hint of blood and pus from those annoying mandragoras (when she'd cut them down they spurt yellowish-green liquid in her face from which she had to take multiple trips to the springs to clean herself) "I think I also need a trip to the hot springs that Raine mentioned"

"Oh, I can accompany you!" Kanono said excitedly "We can ask the other girls too if they want to come along!"

"That sounds like a great idea!" Laena replied "I can get to know the others a bit more while we soak in the tub"

"All right, now that we have our afternoon relaxation set out for us, take us home Mormo!" Kanono said

"Alright, but you better get me some food before you start relaxing!" Mormo said

"Alright!" Kanono and Laena said at the same time

With that, the three walked up close to each other as a magic glyph appeared on the ground and Mormo began glowing white. Another glyph began rising and stopped above their head and a blue light engulfed them and in a flash, they disappeared (think the scroll of town portal from DoTA).

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After leaving Mormo with Reid and his endless belly, Kanono and Laena made their way to the guild hall where Laena would report to Kratos on her training while Kanono would hand over the supplies and get her reward money for completing the gathering quest. As they walked through the plaza they took note of the depressing air around the people. When they asked one passing by civilian they got the news that tax day was just around the corner, the day that the town got sucked drier than a desert. To Kanono this was usual and she wasn't really worried since Ad Libitum members always used the reserved tax fund and were safe from Ganser's bullies while to Laena this spelled trouble since she didn't even have money save for the few gald she had on her and she was pretty sure that the tax wasn't 50 gald if the villagers were this troubled. Putting her troubles to the side for the meantime, she and Kanono continued to the Guild Hall.

"Oh your back so soon?" Raine said when they entered the guild hall, which was effectively disguised as a library seeing that Ganser and his men wouldn't bother reading more than 10 words. "I thought you would be out training a bit longer"

"Well as you can see" began Laena "my clothes are quite damaged and I need some relaxation after 2 days worth of training since I got here"

"Well luckily I have a spare leather armor for you" Raine said reaching under the reception desk and pulling out some neatly folded clothes "they used to belong to Lloyd when he was training but he outgrew them. I took your measurements and they should fit you snugly unlike Kanono's"

With a smile on her face she happily accepted the change of clothes and proceeded to the washroom to change out of her tattered clothes. While she was going to change, Raine turned towards Kanono as she placed the basket of herbs in front of her and, with a smile, told her that her mission was a easy success.

"Dear me, isn't this a bit more that the client asked for?" Raine asked as she checked the basket

"Oh, the extra is for our Ad Libitum's emergency rations in case we are ever found out" Kanono exclaimed, receiving a smile and nod from Raine as she sorted out what was the clients and Ad Libitum's

After a few minutes the dulcet tone of feet on wood was heard as Laena came out of the bathroom in her newer leather garments. This time she looked much like the traditional novice as depicted in the info books she had read through in her spare time. As she approached the duo she remembered to finally ask Raine for her first mission seeing that she was finally prepared for standard combat but decided to withhold the question since she promised the afternoon off to Kanono and the other girls.

"Ah yes I almost forgot Laena" Raine suddenly said, turning towards Laena, catching her whole attention "You've been stuck using the basic knife since you got here, try heading down to the blacksmith's to get a newer weapon then meet us at the hot springs. You should also restock your supplies before your next mission as well"

"But I don't even have any money to buy those things!" Laena said

"Well now you do" Raine replied, tossing a pouch to Laena "That should cover your base expenses and get you a permanent room in town"

"Wow, thanks!" Laena cried out happily "but from who did this come from?"

"Everyone here in Ad Libitum chipped in for that" Kanono said "We watch out for each other like family"

Laena thanked the both of them again before heading back out, now with a little more spring in the young descender's step. Running towards town square, she made a left turn at the fountain and jogged a bit further until she got to the business district of the town. Upon turning a corner she chanced upon Kratos as he was making his way with a refilled supplies bag and decided to ask for some company since she didn't know the area that well yet. Waving her hand in the air as she walked towards him, she called his attention towards her direction.

"Hey! Kratos-kun!"

Turning around, Kratos watched as Laena ran up to him, giving her a courteous nod which was his way of saying 'hello'

"Here for some supplies?" Kratos asked

"Yeah" Laena replied "And some new weapons and armor before I go and get a place to stay"

"Ah," Kratos said thoughtfully "I take it then that Raine gave you your starting share?"

"Yup, thanks for the money, I really appreciate it" Laena said, grinning happily at her fortune

"Hmph, just make sure you use it wisely and buy the items that work for you, don't base it on price but feel"

"Hey how did you know I was going to but weapons?"

"Your blade is already damaged" he said pointing at the weapon "I take it you've been training with the manual I gave you?"

"Yeah, I've gotten up to Hawk Ascent but still having trouble nailing Diving Dragon" she said sheepishly while pulling out her knife to examine it "Damn, I almost forgot about that if it weren't for you"

"Just remember that a small crack in your weapon could be the division between life and death in any combat situation" he said sternly while walking away "resume your training tomorrow, your test will be in a few days"

"Ah s-s-sure" Laena stuttered "Can't you help me pick out some new equipment?"

Kratos stopped in his tracks for a while but then started walking again only to leave her with a few words

"You have to be the one to choose your own style because only you can choose what is feels best for yourself"

With that Kratos once again disappeared into the crowd leaving Laena to ponder his words before she resumed her jog towards the weapons shop.

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A few minutes later (since she had forgotten to ask Kratos for some directions and had to instead ask around) she finally came by the blacksmiths shop. Staring at it, it wasn't that big but the wooden walls of the cavern-like shop (most buildings are built into the World Tree) seemed to be blackened as if showing the proof of it's years of hard solid work. As she entered, she was hit with the smell of burning coal and asphalt as a muscled man in his mid-thirties walked up to her. He had white spiky hair and wore a loose white sleeveless shirt which was black with soot in some parts and baggy cargo pants in a camo design.

"Good day miss" the burly man said, his voice filled with confidence "Welcome to my shop, my name is Takumi Riku"

"Nice to meet you Mr. Takumi" Laena said, giving a polite bow

"Nah, please just call me Riku" the man said, flashing her a wide grin "Mr. Takumi makes me sound old and weird!"

"Alright, then just call me Laena as well"

"Fair enough" he replied "I assume your here then for some equipments then right? We'll due to Ganser's rule most of the good weapons I had were taken for his own personal army so forgive me if we're kind of short on the good stuff"

"No, I'm just a beginner myself, I don't want something too expensive just something that works for me" Laena said

"Then how about I help narrow down those choices" he said "Let's start out with your job class, people usually get weapons in accordance to the class their in like Warriors take axes and heavy weapons and Thieves use dirks and daggers"

"I'm a Thief-class" Laena replied "So I guess I'll take a dagger since the one I have is already damaged beyond repair"

"May I see the knife?" Riku asked

"Sure, why?" Laena inquired, handing over her first knife to Riku who gave a thorough inspection then frowned at his findings

"This is just a basic dagger, it's not even meant for combat" he said

"What do you mean?" Laena asked curiously

"Most weapons are supposed to be augmented with basic magic runes and stones so that they can hold their own when the user uses a lot of Artes by dampening the stress to the weapon to a minimal level" Riku said "Here I've got some good daggers since most of Ganser's men are Warriors or Magic Knights"

With that, Riku led Laena to the back of the shop where a few rows of well kept and quality crafted blades rested against the wall.

"The armor section is back that way" Riku said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder "Since your class was meant for speed, choose some garments instead of armor. If you need me, I'll be at the counter waiting"

With a nod of understanding from Laena, Riku disappeared behind the shelves of weapons and armors leaving Laena to choose for herself. Looking at the weapons, Laena decided it would be in her best interest to try and get a feel it like Kratos said to find which weapons suited her. She picked up dagger after dagger but each time she found them either to light, too heavy or not right in some other aspect. After a few minutes she was about to give up and just buy the more expensive one when a glint of black caught her eye. Walking slowly towards the shelf, she noticed a knife sitting behind a few others. Deciding to get a better look at it since it was on a higher shelf, she stood on her toes and fumbled around until her fingers grasped the handle of the blade. Suddenly a burst of warmth spread through her arm that surprised her so much that she almost fell back on herself. Steadying herself, she examined the knife which had piqued her interest. It was an unusual knife in a sense, its blade was devilishly sharp and curved every few inches making it look like a beast's claw and it was made from a midnight black steel with red flames decorating the sides. The handle was also unique, made from the same black steel and wrapped with a leather grip while a 4 dragon heads and its silver body made up the hilt and bottom of the blade with the tail twisted in a circular fashion. The weirdest thing was that the red marks seemed to pulsate every few seconds or so like it was beating with the rhythm of her heart and the eyes of the 4 dragons' heads seemed to look at her intently. Yet for some reason unbeknownst to her the blade just felt right, the weight was perfect and it fitted her hand like a glove. Quickly, she holstered it in her holder which was strapped onto her upper right thigh, just below the skirt, and proceeded towards the armor section while musing on her great find.

_'I wonder why it was hidden behind those other knives' _she thought _' but nevertheless Kratos did say to pick the one that works for me and this blade just feels so right in my hand!' _

Looking up she suddenly found herself by the garments section and picked out some casual clothes that she liked and, right after, began choosing her garments. After careful debate with herself she choose some wrappings as her undergarments to conceal her ample bosom and and covered it with a basic black leotard with some orange stripes made out of a magically enhanced fabric. Over her leotard she wore a white military jacket with long black cuffs and collar with orange highlights and a cross armband over her left arm showing the insignia of Ailily. She also strapped on some lightweight white steel greaves before heading towards the counter to pay for her purchase.

**(Check my profile page for pictures on how Laena's armor looks like)**

"Wow, you look damn hot in all that" Riku said teasingly as he saw Laena approach the counter, clad in her new outfit, only to duck as a fist soared past where his head was a second ago

"Perv" Laena muttered, pouting as Riku got back up and gave a hearty laugh

"So did you also get a good weapon?" he asked

"Yeah" she said happily, unholstering the blade from her thigh and showing it to him "Weird thing is though that it was hidden behind some other weapons and I almost missed it if I didn't see the glint of silver on its body"

Riku suddenly took the blade and looked at it with keen eyes, a frown showing on his face "That's weird, I never remember making this kind of dagger, heck, I don't even know what it's made of!"

Laena's face fell when she heard those words but suddenly Riku sighed and smiled at her before tossing the dagger back at her which she abruptly caught. Seeing her look at him questioningly he answered "But that blade felt right for you didn't it? Just answer me that, did that blade really feel like an extension of your own soul because thats what it means to wield a blade, not as another object but as a part you yourself"

Laena looked at the blade and twirled it expertly around, closing her eyes and feeling the warmth she felt when she first touched the blade. Immediately she stopped and flipped it into a backhand position before sheathing it again

"Yeah" she replied smiling, the blade seeming to resonate with her happiness "I can't really explain it but there's a certain warmth to it, like I've used that blade for a long time already"

Chuckling to himself, Riku stepped towards her and patted her on the shoulder

"Then consider that blade a gift for you young Descender"

Laena stepped back in shock, how did Riku know who she was?

Seeing the surprise carved into her face, Riku decided to explain

"I wasn't lying when I told you I never made that blade nor what it was made of. Actually it was given to me by the World Tree itself"

"What!? How did that happen!?" Laena exclaimed in surprise

"I had a vision exactly 2 years ago on this very day"

***FLASHBACK**

It was a stormy night, rain pelted the windows and the low growls of thunder boomed in the distance as lightning lit up the sky in a it's gracefully macabre manner. All of Ailily had been barred and bolted down, even Ganser had decided to put the people's safety first during this symphony of nature by having his soldiers secure everything in town that wasn't hammered into the ground and making sure that all the civilians were safe and sound. To him it was one of those times when he wished he hadn't deactivated the Hollow Bastion barrier generator, although he made up for it by using his magic to erect a dampening shield around the town just to make sure no house caught on fire because of a stray lightning bolt (can't have any of his potential money going up in flames can he now?). Although at a small cavern-house that was the blacksmiths, a disturbance of another kind was plaguing the sole inhabitant.

"..........iku......."

"........Riku........."

"......Riku please listen............."

".......listen to me very carefully......"

Takumi Riku's eyes shot wide open when the almost surreal female voice became clear in his head. Looking around he found himself not in the comfy room of his house but in a completely blank space, all around him all he could see was white and a single ball of red fire hanging in front of him.

"Where am I!?" he asked frantically looking at the red ball of heat as if expecting an answer even though it seemed unlikely. But seeing as this was not in his control, the unlikely is always bound to happen.

"You are simply here" came the reply from the fire, promptly shocking him for a moment that he fell flat on his bottom

"Wh-who are you?" he stammered "Where am I!?"

"I am a representation of the world tree to you and as for where we are, I am forbidden to share such knowledge"

Picking himself up slowly, still unsure whether to believe what he is seeing or dreaming, he walked right up to the hanging ball of flame and asked "Why am I here?"

"We have chosen you for a special task" came the reply

"_We?_" he asked

"Yes, me and the other spirits who govern this world have seen you fit for this task, should you be willing to accept it"

Taking a moment to weigh his options, Riku felt it was his obligation to help the spirits of the World Tree but on the other hand he also knew his normal life would never be the same. Yet in the end his 'good samaritan' side won out and he decided accepted whatever task would be thrown at him

"We thank you for accepting, In two years time we have foreseen the arrival of this world's Descender. You are to find him or her and care for them while they are still young and train them. In effect we will give you our blessing and you will become the world's first Descender's Guardian"

He was truly surprised at this, sure his mother told him of the legends that the World Tree brought about great heroes when the world needed them but that was all when he was kid waving a wooden stick for a sword! Now he was actually being asked to take care for the very first one!

"But why me?" he asked "why couldn't it have been someone else?"

"Because you have all the necessary skill for teaching her, from sword and armor making to basic culinary arts, all needed one or another when the time comes in their quest. Also you are a retired multi-class are you not?"

"Yeah, I usually switch jobs depending on the mission requirements"

"Then whatever class they may be, you can help train their bodies as well as their skills"

Realizing that what they had said is true, he became more confident about the task ahead of him but suddenly his mind thought of something

"How will I know that they are the Descender?"

"A very astute question, we will give you the Descender's weapon, when the time comes, it will react to the birth of the descender and change according to their class. Also, no one but the Descender can wield it for anyone else who tries will simply be unable to lift it. But you are the exception, as blessed by us, you will be able to hold it without problem and keep it in prime condition until the Descender can do it themselves"

At those words the ball of flame suddenly began convulsing and changing shape, compacting itself and becoming smaller and more solid in state. After a few seconds of change, a mysterious block of black metal dropped to the floor in front of his feet, pulsing for a few seconds with a weird energy. Kneeling down, he reached for the black metal block and just when his fingers touched its icy cold surface, a sudden jolt of pain went through his left arm and to his surprise, a black tattoo of the world tree and two crossed swords appeared on the backside of his hand.

"That is the mark of our blessing, the mark of the World Tree!

Suddenly the mark started to glow, and each second grew in intensity until it became too bright to bear. Shielding his eyes in reflex, Riku cried out as the light seemingly engulfed him and within moments it was no more.

With a gasp and yell, he sat upright from bed so fast that he sent a little object flying of the bed and clattering on the wooden floor, sliding for a bit before coming to a halt. Instinctively, Riku began feeling himself as if expecting that he was missing some body from the light.

The light!

Quickly jumping out of bed and hitting a switch, multiple lamps blazed to life, lighting up his small and cluttered room. Looking at his own hand he found the mark as clear as day embedded in it, the mark of the first Guardian to the Descender. slowly he walked back to bed and sat down to contemplate what had just happened. He had just accepted a monumental task, to train the world's saviour in the arts of crafting and many more. His eyes suddenly roamed to the object that had fallen off the bed in his mad wake and there as plain as day lay the black metal bestowed upon him. Standing back up, he made his way and grabbed the slab and examined it. Flat, cold to the touch, nothing special, at least for now, but he knew that when it would change it's shape it would mark the beginning of the retribution of the world from the great Devourer which had plagued them for years. Yet his eyes steeled themselves and burned with a determination of a man who knew what he had to do.

It was time to begin preparation for the coming of the Descender.

***END FLASHBACK**

"And the rest is history, about two days ago the metal went haywire and began changing. For a few seconds it flashed through all the shaped of different weapons until it stopped on the knife and then I knew it would only be a matter of time until you came here" Riku finished

Laena, to start with, was completely shocked. The World Tree whom she considered her mother had already given her a 2 great gifts, a weapon and a master from who she could learn so much.

"So I'll be learning under you?" Laena asked, trying to confirm herself

"Yes, but on a broader scale" Riku replied "You'll be learning basic cooking, forging, enhancing, physical fitness and the like, but you are still going to have to train yourself in the artes of a thief class with the book I heard Kratos gave you"

"You know him?"

"Yep, I also happen to be a member of Ad Libitum myself and heard of your fiasco the other day" grinning pervertedly at the thought "lucky bastards"

Immediately he had to duck another fist as it soared past his head

"Shut it ero-blacksmith!"

"Ha ha, just kidding, but let me continue first, as your Guardian you might want to move in with me seeing that I also heard that you would be looking for a place to stay, and what better than the place you'll be training in"

"Wait, are you okay with it?" she asked, albeit worried

"It's okay, there's a spare room where you can move in with a decent sized bed and all and don't worry" he said "we have clean toilets"

Smiling at the luck she had so far had this day, she gladly accepted Riku's offer and tried to pay him although he refused it and simply stated that it was money was no big deal for his hospitality.

She soon found her room and it was decently big, with a bed by the windows and dresser and bookshelf on the walls with a desk on the opposite side and a door which she suspected, led to the bathroom. After freshening up for a bit she stared at the clock and remembered her promise to meet up with the rest at the hotsprings for a soaking relaxation. Throwing on he casuals, she bade her farewell to Riku who was entertaining a few customers before heading out to meet up with Kanono. All the while she could only think of the great things ahead of her.

She truly was blessed beyond measure

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_**And there we have it folks, chapter 3 is ovaaahh!!! Again I apologize for the late update but at least I'm getting somewhere with this story, hope you like it so until then just wait for that update. **_

_**And a update on the scoreboard which is still open for changes **_

_**Kanono (YESSSS) = 2**_

_**Chester =1**_

_**Luke=1**_

_**Leon=4 **_

_**Everyone else = a big fat 0 **_

_**Signing out **_

_**~aurion123**_


	4. Hot Springs and Hot Mission!

**HEY GUYS LONG TIME NO UPDATE! SORRY FOR THE DELAY BUT SCHOOL'S BEEN BRAIN-WRACKING FOR THE PAST MOTH OR SO. ADD TO THE FACT THAT I (LIKE ANY GOOD AUTHOR) SUFFERED FROM WRITER'S BLOCK EVERY NOW AND THEN AND YOU'VE GOT A RECIPE FOR A LONG TIME. ANYWAYS DON'T WORRY, I WON'T ABANDON THIS SO WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY HERE'S THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF RADIANT CHRONICLES!**

* * *

"Ah crap I almost forgot about meeting Kanono!"

Such was the thoughts of the young blonde descender as she ran back and forth between her closet and the bag on the bed, unceremoniously tossing clothes, towels, underwear and whatnot into it. Just an hour or so back she had just met her guardian, Riku, who managed to find a room for her to stay in as she lived there with him whilst learning a few tricks of the trade from the retired guild member now turned blacksmith. Now she was in such a mad rush that someone would have thought the devourer was right outside her room.

"What the heck's going on here?" came the curious voice of Riku who stood in the doorway watching his young apprentice turn her cabinet inside out just after she spent the last few minutes arranging it.

"I almost forgot that I was supposed to meet Kanono and the girls at the hot springs!" she said without even pausing to look at him. After quickly deciding on some easy going casual clothes she immediately began stripping down in front of Riku who at once fell down from a heavy nosebleed muttering something across the lines of "I'm not a pervert, I'm not a pervert......"

After strapping on her shoes she quickly turned around to say goodbye to Riku and found him on the floor still suffering for extreme blood loss but shook it of as the heat getting to him. With a quick "Ja ne!" she jumped over him and ran (more like jumped) down the stairs and shot out the door like a bullet leaving nothing but a trail of dust behind her as she went to meet her new friends and comrades.

* * *

It was only a few hours after she had just settled in and already her life seemed to have gone from zero to hero in just a short span of time. Sure only she, Mormo and her caretaker Riku knew her secret but somehow the burdens and tasks seemed to be stacking up one after the other.

'Oh well its nothing a small bath with new friends can fix' she thought as she neared the hot springs, slowing her pace down to a jog so as to not overshoot her meeting place.

Finally coming to a halt outside the spring's gates she presented her identification(she got one from Ad Libitum to allow her to blend in since Ganser kept a steely gaze towards suspicious people, especially those who aren't 'registered') to the manager on duty who gave her a curt nod and told her that the others had already gone in ahead just a few minutes back. Giving her thanks for the quick info she walked into the women's changing room and took of her clothes and placed them in one of the many baskets provided while taking the towel that came with it before placing the basket on the uppermost shelf. After she had done so she wrapped the towel around body and proceeded to enter the springs. Opening the door her eyes immediately had to adjust due to the amount of steam but nevertheless she spotted the ever noticeable pink hair of Kanono which stuck out even more since she was right next to another girl with pink hair except it was longer and tied into a high ponytail.

"Hey Kanono!" she called out jogging quickly towards the now identifiable group of women, momentarily forgetting the fact that the stone floor was wet

The Ad Libitum girls turned their head towards the blonde bombshell as she called out Kanono's name and although she was wearing a towel, the cloth just failed at hiding he 'assets' and had each one of them blanching at their own.

"Kanono! I need to ask you somethiiiiiing!!!" she called out, screaming the last part as she finally learned to slip and fell straight into the pool of hot (and I mean HOT) water

Lets just say that it wasn't so pretty

"KIIIYAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

* * *

"Oh well at least there wasn't any lasting damage right?" asked Kanono

"You call a perfect imprint of Laena on the hotspring's floor no lasting damage?" asked Raine, rubbing her forehead in amazement, just what is it with blondes and imprinting themselves in hard places (pun on a certain angelic klutz )

It had just been a few hours after their little escapade at the springs and after a little explaining to the manager they managed to get off scoot free of trouble. Of course even the manager was stumped to find a indent of a woman on the bottom of the hotspring's pool and even more so that the owner of the imprint was just relaxing like nothing even happened. Now we find the group of 4 were making their way back home after eating at the inn.

"But at least you girls were right," came the voice of Laena "The hotspring does wonders on stress, right Arche?"

"Yeah but drying my hair afterwards is a real pain" Arche replied, swinging her long ponytail hair to get a few last water drops out of it

Laena thought that Arche was a bit eccentric, first she asked, no _commanded_, Laena to call her boss and all since she was the senior member of Ad Libitum then got mad after calling her 'senior member' and then went completely friendly by offering her assistance in missions because of her prowess in magic. Whether or not the girl suffered from major mood swing or if it was just her personality Laena found her quite interesting to be with. She was knocked out of her thoughts when Kanono called her name and reminded her which path to take home since she almost missed the turn towards the blacksmith's. Giving her goodbyes she turned around and was about to run back home when Raine called out to her.

"Laena you'll be doing your first few _official _missions tomorrow, so don't be late since Kratos will be giving out the assignments this time"

A grin found its way onto Laena's face as she ran back home filled with excitement, anticipation and a tiny bit of worry

_'my first actual field mission!' _

* * *

The next day found Riku trying to have a quiet morning coffee, which is hard when his tenant woke up late on her first mission day. He chuckled a bit as he watched the girl who is supposed to be tasked with saving the world make a fool out of herself as she blazed through her breakfast stuffing her mouth like a fool. Yet in the process he found himself reminiscing about his own youth, when he was a member of Ad Libitum himself. Back then he was brash, bold and a loudmouth to boot, always taking the risk no matter the danger. Without realizing it his eyes had drifted to a glass box displayed on a shelf hanging above the doorway, what was odd about it was that is was definitely a sword but it was wrapped in multiple pieces of black cloth and sealed with chains. Frowning at the box, hands fell short of his mouth and the cup of hot coffee wound up pouring into his lap.

"YEEEEOWCHH!!!" he cried out, jumping out of his seat, grabbing the nearest towel and wiping his pants

"Oy, Riku what's got you spaced out?" Laena asked, grabbing a towel and helping clean up the spill. Riku just realized he must have really been thinking a lot because Laena was now fully garbed in armor and was preparing to leave.

"Ah it's nothing. just dwelling on the past a bit" he said with a small tone of sadness in his voice, which was not missed by Laena. Thinking that she shouldn't pry any further she just nodded and made her way towards the door when Riku called to her. Turning around, her reflexes immediately kicked in as a white blur hurled itself at her. In the blink of an eye, Laena was holding up a dirty white rucksack (most likely from the soot) with a noticeable red cross in the middle.

"Some extra supplies you might need since this is a Kratos mission, you may have been training and got a hang already of the monsters at the foot of the World Tree but it wouldn't hurt to be careful in case he assigns you something tougher. I've packed a few gels but remember they only heal you temporarily, don't rely on them too much, a med kit is still a better choice but is less useful in battle or if you've got a priest, let him do the healing"

"Right Master" Laena replied as she opened the door

"And one more thing" Riku called out

"Hmm?"

"Go for the throats, remember you're a thief class so speed is your best asset, not your defense or attack so aim to end things quickly"

"Thanks for reminding me" she said, smiling at her mentor as she closed the door behind her and walked down the path to the town square, all the while reviewing the thief's guide's notes on Diving Dragon thinking she might be able to pull it of today. Soon enough she found herself in front of library with the sign 'closed for the day' tacked haphazardly into the wooden door and found herself giddy with anticipation. Remembering she was almost late put her mind back on track as she opened the door to find all the members assembled, save for Kratos whom she couldn't find in the small crowd (and mind you he was a very distinct character)

"Leana, good morning!" Came the ever-cheerful voice of Kanono "You made it right on time, Kratos just had to discuss something with Raine for a bit before telling us what's going to happen"

At least that put her mind at ease about being late, now the only question left was what was Kratos calling everyone for? Isn't this just supposed to be some small-time mission? Lucky thing Reid had decided to voice the question himself.

"Hey guys does anyone know why we all have to be here?" he asked leaning back on one of the wooden pillars "I mean this would usually mean something big right?"

"For once he has a valid point" Chester agreed, looking worriedly at Kanono for a second "If this is a big mission though as Reid says why call on the rookie member's as well?" he said, sparing a glance at Laena who caught on immediately.

"Hey listen Chester I may be new but I've been training like mad for the past days and I'm pretty sure I can handle myself well enough"

"That's not what I'm trying to say" Chester immediately replied realizing the verbal jab he made "I mean it's just kind of early for any of the really important ones to be assigned to you since you still don't know the layout of the surrounding forest or areas other than the foot of the World Tree as well as we do"

_'Can't argue with that logic' _ Laena thought

"Maybe it's reconnaissance like what Kanono did a few week back?" Arche thoughtfully added

"Oh hell no!" Reid burst out "I am not staying for six days, without food, stuffed into a wine barrel just to listen to Ganser's men talk about girls and whatnot"

"But they spilled their raid time's didn't they?" Kanono said "that's useful info in itself, without it our refugee camps would have been blown"

"But still 6 FRIGGIN DAYS! No roast beef, miso soup, curry, shortcakes........"

Laena decided to ignore Reid's food drama for the time being and asked Kanono as question that's been bugging her since last night

"Kanono" she whispered catching her attention, while motioning for her to come closer. Wondering what her friend wanted she made her way to where she was standing

"Where's Mormo?"

"He said he'd accompany us out if the mission takes us far but right now he's in the back room with Kratos and Raine, offering tips to whatever the mission is"

Before she could ask any more Kratos, Raine and Mormo walked in (or in Mormo's case, _flew_) Almost at one everyone straightened up, even Reid stopped his rant to listen. Once Kratos thought that he had their attention he began talking.

"You are all probable aware of the missing refugees situation right?" he asked, everyone except Laena nodding her head

"What do you mean 'missing refugees'?" she asked

"Sorry I almost forgot that your new here" he replied "But I assume that you know what Ganser does to people who don't meet their quota right?"

"Yeah, the tiny terror gets a tantrum and banishes the poor sap for some whacked-out conspiracy"

Everyone chuckled at how Laena just called Ganser a tiny terror, which they realized was true, just remove the weird hat and he stands quite shorter than any of them.

"Yes he does" Kratos said "Usually we knock out the guards who escort them out and have them think that the prisoner just escaped while we take the refugee to safety, but recently we have not managed to retrieve a single citizen because they never make it past the front gate"

"You mean that Ganser has some sort of underground prison?" Genis asked

"No it's just that they seem to vanish into Ganser's house" Kratos continued, making everyone's eyes widen at the statement

"That's impossible Kratos!" Chester said, his eyes narrowing in slight anger "I thought you said that Ad Libitum knows every way out of Ailily!"

"We do" Raine interrupted "We now have suspicion that Ganser is using magitech teleporters somewhere in his mansion to transport them to a holding facility"

Mormo then flew to the top shelf of nearest bookcase and retrieved a map and laid it out on a nearby table for everyone to see

"According to what we think there are only a few choices where Ganser can hide that many prisoners and the most likely is here" he said pointing to the north west of Ailily, to a old decrepit structure with a massive crystal floating over it. Even if it was just a picture the place seemed quite menacing.

"The Hallow Bastion" Mormo stated "It's been unused for several years now and from the old blueprints we found in the back of the library the place is huge enough to hold a lot of people

"What's a Hallow Bastion?" Laena asked

"It used to be mana shield generator for the World Tree to protect it against the devourer but Ganser shut it down saying that it was draining too much Mana and costing him a fortune to keep it in check"

"And leave us susceptible to the great terror?" Arche asked, amazed at the man's stupidity "How did such a man even become our town's leader"

"Through money, and political know-how" Genis muttered bitterly

Laena took a good look at the building while everyone else debated on what to do when a sudden pain assaulted her covered eye, clutching it as pain shot through her body like someone had fired a lightning spell at her at point blank range. What shocked her even more were vivid pictures flooding her mind shifting through in bright flashes of blue (Think when Cloud gets affected by GeoStigma), of people, fathers, mothers and children alike screaming in horror at some massive looming shadow, a man in a lab coat staring at a tank containing something but went by to quickly for her to see, a woman kneeling to a man, and finally a huge monstrosity with a gem like eye standing behind the maniacally laughing Ganser.

"Laena are you okay?"

Raising her head and changing her facial expression quickly to hide her sudden pain, she found everyone looking at her quizzically

"Nah, its nothing, I was just deep in thought" she said, a smile plastered across her face.

Everyone else seemed to buy it as they went back to their conversation about plans but Kratos seemed to be giving her a more thorough look, as if he sensed that she was trying to cover up. In truth she actually wasn't far off. Kratos, being the head of guild itself (at least in Ailily) had noticed that she was taking sharper breaths in quick succession but even so he decided not to pry any further and resumed talk about the plans.

"So how sure are we anyway that the Bastion is in use?" Reid asked "It may be that Ganser's a lying bastard but the place seemed pretty dead to me when I came close to it during a hunting mission"

"You only saw the outside" Genis pointed out "and more than likely you were focusing on getting the mission done so you could eat that you didn't notice anything else"

"Hey! I notice things even when I'm hungry!"

"Well sending in a extraction force is useless if we don't know what's in there in the first place" Laena said

"Laena has a good point" Kanono agreed "walking in without any prior knowledge is taking major risks to the mission and to the safety of the captured"

"Wait, didn't Lloyd get assigned to take out a few monsters in Hollow Bastion?" Chester said, holding his chin in contemplation

"Lloyd?" Laena asked "who's he?"

"Lloyd Irving is one of our members" Raine filled in "you haven't seen him since he takes a lot of long term missions"

"But as Reid said Lloyd knows the place so where is he?" Arche spoke in frustration

"The mission was supposed to be an easy one but he hasn't returned so far, nor have we heard any word from him" Raine admitted "As of now we have labeled him as M.I.A"

Everyone seemed to just stop and think. Without Lloyd there was no info and without info there was no assurance that there were even prisoners there. The risk of walking into Ganser's men in a supposed home base was large and already suspicion that Lloyd had been captured was dawning on everyone. This was a major problem with no pros to balance the cons. Suddenly Laena had an idea, sure it was risky but if she did it right then everything would be set.

"How about I do a recon sweep of the area?" she suggested before adding "on my own"

"Are you nuts!" Reid shouted "We have no idea what we are even up against!"

"Actually," Kratos began causing everyone to stop and look at him

"Thats a well suited plan for you"

"WHAT!?" came everyone's reaction

"Think about it, being a thief class she can slip in undetected at night and on her own she'll have less chances of being spotted by whatever is in there"

"But still" Raine started, worry evident in her voice "are you sure you want to assign this to our rookie member?"

"She'll only stay a rookie if we keep holding her back" Kratos said, a tone of finality in his voice "Besides, only she has the skill to do this" At those words Laena felt her chest swell in pride seeing that he was helping her and acknowledging her at the same time. No one else could argue at those points he made seeing that she was the only thief class among them.

"But even I have my worries" Kratos added "So Mormo will accompany her"

Laena was about to argue until Kratos pointed out that Mormo's size and flight will render him invisible and that she could use him to teleport out in case things got messy.

"This will be a simple recon mission" Kratos said seriously "We only want you to find any sign of human activity in that area and don't engage any hostiles if possible"

"If you need any help in preparing I can give you some extra supplies" Kanono added

"Some training wouldn't be too bad" Reid added "Since this is a night mission you've got to be prepared for tougher monsters since the darkness brings out the real tough guys"

Laena couldn't help but tear up in happiness at her new friends. She had only been born a few days back and thrust with a job no one alive would take but now she had the backing of her new friends. This was her time and she wasn't about to disappoint them.

"Okay prepare for the mission!" Kratos barked "tonight you'll be infiltrating a possible enemy base camp for a recon mission, so do your best in preparing and executing the mission"

Putting on a smile, she couldn't help but give a laugh and a salute at Kratos, who acknowledged with a small smile before she began walking to the door to get some more supplies and ready herself for her first major mission. As she walked down the stairs to the courtyard she heard Kanono calling out to her. Turning around, she found that the girl had ran out after her and was panting a bit. Yet it didn't deter her from looking straight into Laena's eyes, her own filled with seriousness and a hint of worry which Kanono couldn't tell was there.

"You'll come back right?" she said "You better promise me that!"

Smiling at her friend's worry she placed her hand on her shoulder and looked straight back at her, her own face turned as serious as Kanono and replied

"I promise, and I'll save the people as well as this town and most importantly, you guys, my new family"

With that she took of to tell Riku of the mission, missing the slight blush which had found it's way onto Kanono's cheeks. All she could feel was the anticipation and a single thought

_'Alright, now it's time to see what I'm made of!' _

* * *

**WOOT YEAH BABY I'M BACK AND IT'S DECIDED THAT IT WILL BE A LAENAxKANONO PAIRING SO JUST SIT BACK AND WAIT FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT AND SPECIAL THANKS TO YOU GUYS (THE READERS) FOR READING AND COMMENTING ON THIS STORY AND FOR StrangeoneXD FOR KEEPING ME GOING AND GOING (with all the writer's block I've been having I was almost considering dropping again)**

**SO UNTIL NEXT TIME!**

**~JA NE! **

**-aurion123**


	5. Traces of Life

**FINALLY I GOT BACK OFF MY ASS AND GOT BACK MY FIRE! FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO THANK ME, THANK strangeoneXD ONCE AGAIN FOR KICK STARTING ME BACK INTO BUSINESS!**

**SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, LET THE STORY GO ON!**

* * *

"A recon mission eh?" Riku mused "Well you won't be going in without some info on the place. Walking into what could be a possible enemy hideout as Kratos said without any form of info is total suicide!"

"So I take it you've been there before?" Laena asked as she packed her necessities, Riku nodding in acknowledgement

It was now nearing night time, with the sun giving its last few rays of light which coated the skies in a crimson hue before it sank fully behind the border mountains around Ailily. Just a few hours back Laena had returned to Riku with news of her mission and was promptly stopped from grabbing her bag and simply running out the door, no questions asked. Riku had then proceeded to lecture her about the proper use of day and night and how entering with the aid of darkness would give her the edge in entering the abandoned Hallow Bastion unhindered, although being inside the old shield generator would be a totally different story.

"Hallow Bastion's interior is, unfortunately, pretty spartan in design which will give you quite a few problems" Riku said, sitting down behind the counter as he watched Laena throw a few gels into her bag.

"What do you mean?" Laena questioned, taking time to look to Riku for her answers

"Well I may not remember it quite well since I only went inside twice in my lifetime, once to rest for the day since I had been traveling for quite a while and the other was when I had to deliver some ores to the workers there. Mind you, both times were before the Devourer and Ganser ever showed their nasty faces. Anyways, what I meant to say was Hallow Bastion is just a bunch of corridors and rooms, no hiding spots because the paths are wide enough for you to be seen and well lighted too." Riku answered

"So how exactly do I find evidence of human activity there without being seen?"

"Simple" Riku replied gaining a slight glint in his eye as he grinned mischievously, a look that Laena would later on know as 'The Danger! look'

THIS IS A LINE BREAK

"...Sneak in." Laena finished, remembering her Master's words whilst thumbing a small device in her hands. Looking over her position behind some rocks on a ledge overlooking the sole entrance to the fortress, she observed quietly as guards walked around the perimeter of the entrance camp. The camp itself was not too big, instead acting as a checkpoint of sorts which aroused some suspicion as to what was going on inside.

Sliding back down so that she could rest her back on the cool moss of the rocks she pulled out her knife and formulated a plan by drawing what she knew on the soil in front of her.

The camp had two entrances, one in front and one at the back which led directly into the building, both were guarded by two soldiers who would change every 40 or so minutes. The camp itself was mildly fortified with wooden walls, the makeshift kind made from tree trunks driven into the ground and given a sharpened point which negated entering from there since she would be easily spotted. The gates on the other hand were build right into a choke point where the surrounding small hills and ledges led right into, one way in one way out. She herself was on one of the surrounding rock formations over looking the base which gave her a easier access by jumping down right in front of the gate. Naturally, she managed to learn in the two hours she had been observing about all the movements of the guards inside. First the front guards would shift with a 2 minute interval between the next shift giving her only a small window of time to enter the gate without being seen from the inside. Next, 5 minutes after, the guards at the back entrance would shift as well with the same time periods in between the shifts. The interior of the camp had only two small buildings and a array of tents. The building near the back was a storage area for supplies as she had seen one soldier go in and come back out with a crate of gels. The other one near the front was the mess hall which she would have to avoid lest she be seen through the many large windows of the one story shack. Aside from the tents there were also a few barrels and crates which she could hind behind or inside but she would have to be quick to make it in 5 the minute time limit she had to get to the other gate. There were certain blind spots or shadows in the camp caused by the few torches on stands which weren't covered by the interior guard movement that she could use to rest for a few seconds.

She tensed for a bit as she crawled back onto the ledge, remembering that any moment now they should begin the cycle. She stilled her breath as she cleared her mind of distractions, waiting for the moment the guards would begin their switch.

Seconds later the guards then moved away leaving an unguarded gate wide open but still observable by those inside. Around two minutes later, two new guards took their posts in front of the gate as if nothing has happened.

By now you're probably wondering what happened to our dear heroine and why she missed such an opportunity, well the answer is she didn't.

A few meters to the left of the gate, behind a few crates in the shadows of the camp, Laena breathed a sigh of relief. Raising her head ever so slowly over the boxes, she observed her path from the boxes, making sure that she would go unnoticed until the storage house. Seeing as she had 5 minutes before the next guards would shift and 20 seconds left for the device in her hand to recharge she decided to take a short breather while making sure not to lose track of the time.

Slowly she looked down at the small egg-shapped device lined with orange groves and silently thanked Riku that it worked.

* * *

_"Remember Laena" Riku began after finishing his explanation "as a Thief class you have no stealth skills whatsoever, instead you'll be focused on quick and precise attacks that will disable any enemy in a short amount of time"_

_"I know that already!" Laena replied "You beat that into my head like a dozen times in training! But the mission requires me to go unseen, how will I do that? Everyone is counting on me for this mission!" _

_"I understand!" Riku snapped "Normally, stealth techniques are all but lost to the world and even today's Ninja class has no such power sans the ability to take a hit without losing concentration"_

_"So what would you suggest?"_

_"This" Riku said, revealing a egg-like device from behind him _

_"What is that supposed to be?" Laena questioned, a disbelieving look in her visible eye _

_"Watch" Riku said as he pressed the top of the device _

_And nothing happened_

_"Well?" Laena asked _

_"God damn this old piece of trash! I keep on forgetting that you're supposed to inject Mana into it like how you do a technique!" _

_This time a bluish light surrounded the device before Riku pressed the button again._

_And disappeared right before her eyes._

_"Woah! Riku you've teleported!" she exclaimed, stars in her eyes_

_"I didn't teleport!" came Riku's voice from behind her, causing Laena to jump in surprise_

_A shimmer in the air and once again Riku could be seen in all his sooty glory._

_"This is a special device called Active Cloaking" Riku said, tossing the device to Laena who fumbled with it as she caught it "It used to be pretty popular during my time, a nasty piece of magi-technology that was developed by some loony name Harold. Unfortunately the device was pretty flawed and soon it lost its uses."_

_"What do you mean flawed? It worked pretty well didn't it?" _

_"No it didn't, for one thing if you listen carefully you can still hear the person's movement and another thing is that it consumes too much mana for a short amount of time, 1 minute for 1/4th of your mana is too steep a price"_

_"A fourth! No way!" _

_"Luckily you're only going to use it to sneak in, no fights whatsoever remember?" _

_"R-right" _

_"And if you can find anything else aside from evidence that there are people being imprisoned that may be of some use to us then take it as well"_

_"Alright Riku!"_

_

* * *

_

Sneaking through the camp was easy enough as Laena made her way quietly through the shadows, ducking into some empty tent when a soldier would pass by or behind some crates until she made it to her destination, the back of the storage area. which was near the back gates.

_"Any time now they should begin the switch" _Laena thought, pulling out the A.C. and priming it for use.

Sure enough, just like last time, the switch was made and Laena slipped in unnoticed.

_"Now I just have to find..."_ Laena began before stopping in her tracks _"Woah..." _

'Woah' would probably be an understatement. The interior of the fortress was a whole lot bigger than she expected, with a ceiling reaching high up that it seemed to disappear into the darkness above. The halls were lined with stones so old that the were all coated in moss giving it a weird aqua-green color and torches that gave off an eerie blue light which along with the slight mist on the ground made up a majestic remnant of the past and a terrifying prison fortress if what Raine said was true. Quickly she made her way deeper until she was out of sight of the gate. Soon she ended up in a wide area which seemed to be an antechamber of sorts, deciding to take a break she sat down in the corner before continuing on to allow her to recover the mana she lost for the use of the A.C.

As dumped her sack on the ground, a muffled cry was heard and almost immediately a gray object shot right out of the bag and rolled over the floor

"Jeez Laena you could have woken me up a little easier!" exclaimed Mormo as he stretched his arms and legs before floating up to eye level.

"Sorry, I was so engrossed in the plan that I almost forgot about you" Laena apologized

For those who are confused as to what happened it's pretty simple. Mormo being tasked to accompany Laena by Kratos couldn't handle staying up late unlike Laena who slept the afternoon off to get enough rest for the night ops. To keep him close at all times Laena suggested he stay in her bag so that she wouldn't forget about him. The rest, is history.

"Ah," Mormo exclaimed as a low grumbling sound emanated from his body "Do you happen to have some food on you?"

"How can you think about food at a time like this!" Laena said just as her own stomach growled out in protest "...Well a quick bite wouldn't hurt I guess..."

Turning to the bag from which Mormo came from Laena pulled out a few gels to restore her strength and an apple for Mormo, who protested at first for something so little but accepted when Laena reminded him that they had to be quick about it. Soon enough the pair began walking again, dodging the few stray wolves and bats and making their way through the cavernous halls while Laena held the A.C. in case any guards would make themselves known.

"Proof that people have been here... I wonder what that could be." Mormo mused as he flew beside the young Descender "Haven't you noticed something strange"

"What Mormo?" Laena asked, her visible eye looking around for anything that would tell them if prisoners were being held here

"For a place thats a supposed prison compound, it's pretty unguarded inside unlike the outside camp"

"Maybe they think thats enough since that would be the only way in or out, right?"

"Maybe but..." Mormo then stopped himself before hearing footsteps from in front "Quick hide!"

As Laena activated the A.C., Mormo flew high up so that he wouldn't be seen and just in time too as a lone guard came through a adjacent path. He stopped for a bit and looked around before moving on muttering "must've been hearing things..."

Once the person was out of earshot, Mormo came back down while Laena revealed herself from behind one the many small pillars that lined the hallway.

"Well I guess I was wrong about no guards inside" Mormo said, watching the corridor behind them in case the person came back "Lets move on before more come this way"

Quickly the pair moved about, but so far no dice. All they saw were lights, walls and mist as far as the eye could see.

"This is getting us no where!" Laena exclaimed

"Hey maybe we can get find something in that room over there." Mormo said pointing in its direction. Sure enough a archway and a door could be made out in the walls but unlike the others they had passed, this one was closed up.

"Maybe," Laena thought out loud "But how do we open it?" she asked as she ran her hand over the cold concrete barrier.

"Hey there's a slot over here for something!" Mormo pointed out. Beside the door was what appeared to be a small slot, barely big enough for a human hand. Seeing no other way (and since her curiosity was getting the better of her) she placed her hand inside the slot. For a moment nothing happened until she felt a pricking sensation and withdrew her hand gasping in pain.

"Something needled me!" Laena said, cradling her hand as she saw a small sliver of blood from the puncture marks. Before she could complain any further, the door opened up with a hiss allowing a large amount of cold mist to come out. Quickly Laena covered her mouth and shielded her remaining eye until the mist passed over. Looking inside she amazed to find what looked like the relics of a battery of some sorts. Multiple shattered cylinders mounted on 2 large blocks and wires dangling overhead.

"What is this place?" Mormo asked "Is this the heart of Hallowed Bastion?"

"I think so," Laena replied, stepping inside while treading carefully as to not step on broken glass "I don't think we'll find anything here Mormo, this place must've been deserted for years!"

"Yeah and for some weird reason this place is giving me the creeps" Mormo said until he spotted something and flew towards it "Hey now, what's this?'

"Did you find something?"

"Just some papers, can't make out what some say though. Only one here is pretty much not lost to the dampness of the place, that and this letter"

Laena then made her way and saw Mormo hovering over the remnants of what looked like a desk while holding a single piece of paper and what looked like an unopened letter that had a pretty large bulge and was wet in some places.

"Here maybe it'll interest you" Mormo said handing Laena the paper and envelope "But were getting sidetracked lets get back outside and find some proof that people are being held here"

"Yeah, I'll look into these when I have the time" Laena replied, placing the items in her bag, remembering what Riku said

_"And if you can find anything else aside from evidence that there are people being imprisoned that may be of some use to us then take it as well"_

Once again the pair made their way through a few more corridors, encountering no more guards until they spotted something laying on the ground on a fork up ahead. As they got nearer, it soon revealed itself to be a stuffed toy of sorts. Bending down, Laena picked up the macabre looking toy which looked like a weird voodoo doll that some girl made with no idea what a person (or animal, she wasn't too sure) looked like. It was made of brown cloth, stuffed with cotton and straw with stitches here and there along with two buttons fore eyes and a white cloth sown on the mouth so that the threading made it look like fangs. (Anise's doll for those who haven't played the game)

"A stuffed animal! That's awfully weird in a place like this" Mormo noted as Laena examined the doll. Mormo flew in closer when he noticed something behind it.

"Wait, what's this? There's some paper sticking out of a busted seam." he said, pulling out the paper and unfolding it to inspect it

"Well what does it say Mormo?" Laena asked, tucking the doll into her rucksack for safekeeping

"It's a letter! Let's see..."

_Someone, please help us! May the blessings of mana and freedom reach us all_

"That's an obvious sign people are being held in here! We've gotta get back and tell Kratos!" Laena said

"You're right. Kratos told us to find evidence of people here, then report back to him" Mormo agreed, giving Laena the letter to keep as well before continuing "He may know something about all this. Let's head back to town for now. We'll show this stuffed animal to Kratos and go from there."

"Then lets go, there's nothing else here for us." Laena said before grasping Mormo's foot

"Right, hold on!" Mormo replied and soon a glyph glowed underneath them before they disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

The next day, the remaining guild members assembled inside around the reception of the library as Kratos had called them together.

"Here, I made some tea and sandwiches for you all" Kanono said cheerily as she held up a tray of cups while Raine distributed the bread which many inspected until they determined that Kanono was the one who made them (except Reid he just bit in without thinking of the consequences _if _it really was Raine who cooked them, or Arche for all who care)

"So why did you call us so early Kratos" Chester voiced out

"Laena's back from her recon mission" Kratos simply said

"Is she safe? Was she hurt?" Kanono asked worriedly as she put away the remaining cup for Laena

"No, since Mormo was with her she was able to make it back quickly" Kratos replied "Mormo told me early in the morning while I was training outside and I assembled us so we could hear the report without having her repeat it to the others"

"By the way..." Reid began until Arche hit him in the back of the head forcing him to swallow the sandwich in his mout

"Don't speak with your mouth full, that's just disgusting!" Arche berated him

"I think Reid was trying to ask where Laena is" Chester cut in

"Oh she'll be hear soon" Mormo said as he flew into view from behind the bookshelves near Raine "I told her to rest the rest of the night off since all of you were probably sleeping anyways. She came back pretty late even though the return trip took only a few seconds."

"I actually thought you guys would return much later than that" Raine said sipping the tea she had

Soon though, the doors opened to reveal Laena in all her morning glory.

"Wow, someone looks like they woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning" Genis joked

"He~y cut me some slack" Laena yawned "I'm still kinda sleepy ya know"

"Here Laena I saved you some tea and a sandwich" Kanono said handing her the cup and bread

"Thanks Kanono!" Laena replied eagerly accepting the food "I ran out so quickly that I forgot to grab a bite from Riku's kitchen"

"No problem" Kanono said smiling as she watched Laena eat "That's what friends are for right?"

"Yep" Laena said "you're food really warms me up!" she added without thinking

"E-eh, you think so?" Kanono asked a light pink on her cheeks to which Laena nodded to before swallowing the rest of her sandwich

"So Laena" Kratos began turning their attention to the others "What did you find?"

"Me and Mormo found this letter on the floor deep inside Hallowed Bastion" she said, pulling out a folded piece of paper, the very same one from the doll

"Show me" Kratos asked taking the paper as Laena gave it. Quietly he examined the paper for a few moments before muttering "I see, so that is the spot..."

"What spot? What's going on?" Mormo asked seeing the worried face of the guild leader "Let me and Laena help out!"

"No, there's no need" Kratos answered, a tone of finality in his voice "I'll have a member here handle the rest. Good work"

"So, are we still not full members, then?" Laena asked quietly

"I have no intention of admitting anyone that easily. I'll let you know if you're needed again" Kratos said "But as I said, you did a good job"

"Thanks for the compliment Kratos" Laena said before turning to Kanono "You wanna hang out? Riku said he's gonna show me some new stuff today!"

"Sure!" I'm curious to see how you train since I was gathering the last time" Kanono replied as both girls made for the door and left. Once both girls left and Mormo as well Kratos turned to face the rest of the members

"So _he's _still out there?" Raine questioned

"Yeah," Kratos answered, a solemn look on his face before snapping up "Chester, I'd like you to double check the refugee camps. Reid scout the surrounding area around Hallowed Bastion and Arche, gather some more supplies"

"Yes sir!" the trio answered before moving out

"You think Lloyd is safe out there on his own?" Genis asked

"I don't think so" Kratos answered

"_I know so" _

* * *

The sound of steel dragging along rock was heard as a man looked over the newly opened room before him. A soldier ran up to him before giving his report

"Sir, there's nothing here. All data is either too damaged or lost to decipher anything"

"I see" he replied turning slightly to reveal a red glow where his right eye should be, the rest of his face covered by his aqua blue hair "gather anything else you can find, at least we can sell some of the material here to fund our work"

"Yes sir" the soldier answered before running off to inform the rest of his men leaving the man to stare back into the room before raising a huge golden device and staring into its reflection.

"How is it that even in your death you manage to annoy me further"

"_Aradia" _

_CHAPTER END_

**SORRY GUYS FOR THE LONG UPDATE! BUT NOW I'M BACK IN BUSINESS!**

**HOPE YOU LIKED THE LITTLE FLUFF BETWEEN LAENA AND KANONO BACK THERE AND SORRY IF I DREW THE 'TRACES OF LIFE' MISSION TOO LONG BUT SAYING "THEY RAN IN, FOUND A DOLL, MISSION COMPLETE!" WOULD BE TOO SHORT A CHAPTER WOULDN'T YOU AGREE?**

**SO WHO IS THE MYSTERY MAN? WHO IS THIS 'ARADIA' THAT HE SPEAKS OF AND HOW IS OUR YOUNG DESCENDER TIED TO ALL OF THIS?**

**FIND OUT AS WE GO ON TO THE NEXT INSTALLMENT!**

**A cookie for those who find out who the new guy is (hint: he's a villain character from one of the tales games. I decided to give them a chance to appear as well! So expect more of your favorite baddies to appear as well. If you got any suggestions leave a review!)**

**~Ja ne!**

**-aurion123**


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